Kindness Activities Preschool Anchor Chart

My preschoolers and I have been discussing the concept of kindness a lot recently. In addition to talking about kindness and reading books on the topic, the kiddos made a kindness activities anchor chart.

#PLAYfulpreschool kindness activities

By my definition, an anchor chart is basically a written reference for children. Such charts help children to learn about a specific topic, and they often include examples and pictures. Many anchor charts are made by teachers, but I thought involving the students would be more meaningful.

MY LATEST VIDEOS

Materials we used
Chart paper
Magazines
Photos of our class through the year

Directions
Write down a simple definition of kindness. I wrote, “What is Kindness? Kindness is when we are friendly, thoughtful, and generous.” The kiddos and I have talked about being kindness many times – how it means we’re being a friend by helping, how we are thinking of other people, and how we can share our time (and take turns with classroom toys).

Call the children over, in small groups or individually. Engage in a conversation about kindness. Some possible questions to ask the children:

What does it mean to be kind?

What does a kind friend do?

Can you tell me about being kind and thoughtful?

Next, ask the children to find examples of kindness. This can be done by looking through magazines, going through class/family pictures, and leafing through books. In the case of magazines and photos, have children cut out kindness examples and glue the pictures to the chart.

Ask the children, “What do you see that’s kind in this picture? How is he/she being kind here?” Record the children’s thoughts on the chart.

Once the chart is all done, be sure to hang it up where the kiddos can reference it! If there are unkind words or actions, use the chart to help bring the children’s attentions back to what kindness means.

More kindness activities
Not all of the kiddos in my class were interested in helping to make the anchor chart. That’s okay, because I know that they’ll learn about being kind in other ways. Here are more ideas for talking with kids about kindness:

Read books that illustrate what it means to be kind, as well as what it means to be unkind. Books can be great examples and lead to some in-depth discussions with young children.

Act out examples of being kind! I’ve found that preschoolers usually enjoy role playing. Humor tends to be an important part of it, especially if I’m the one being unkind and they have to tell me the better choices to make!

What a brilliant idea – and I’ve learnt what an anchor chart is. I see them being used in my daughters preschool classroom a lot and they are fantastic resource for the kids as well as a great insight for parents to see as they pick up and drop off the children.

Trackbacks

[…] Cards for Sick Children by Capri + 3 Virtual Kindness Notes from Kids by Still Playing School Kindness Activities Preschool Chart by Fun-A-Day Teaching Preschoolers Kindness with Bob and Larry by Life Over […]

[…] some ideas for small things they can do to be kind to those around them. Record their ideas on a kindness anchor chart and keep track of the nice things the children do throughout the week . . . the month . . . the […]